


imperfect timing

by Nyxierose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Love Confessions, Post-TLJ
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 07:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13095279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxierose/pseuds/Nyxierose
Summary: “I wasn’t sure how else to say I like you.”





	imperfect timing

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - desperate kiss // you-nearly-died kiss.
> 
> Also posted on my tumblr [@electricbluebutterflies](http://electricbluebutterflies.tumblr.com).

She sees his fighter go down and she starts running as fast as she can into the forest.

Okay, objectively Rey isn’t _sure_  that the downed x-wing is the one piloted by one of her favorite people (and the not-quite-secret object of her affections, but right now that’s irrelevant), but it’s still down and the battle is moving a different direction and _someone_  needs to go check out the wreckage and it’s not like she has anything else to do right now. She should’ve been fighting in this one, she thinks, but some sort of administrative bullshit about her being too valuable happened so she’s stuck with ground support and she hates it so much but _this,_ this might be the most interesting thing she gets to do all day.

Or the worst, she thinks as she maneuvers around trees and strange smaller local plants. She’s a scavenger by training, not a builder; she doesn’t know what the odds are of someone surviving that kind of drop. But she pushes forward, almost not caring, because if it _is_  him and if he _is_  dead then better her than anyone else. She can handle it. One more loss on her list. At least this one isn’t somehow her fault.

By the time Rey smells something burning, she’s on the edge of crying. She feels so overwhelmed, and now is a really bad time for her to suddenly care about her own emotions but whatever. Every breath feels like an effort as she gets closer and closer, sees the small crater, and-

Seemingly out of nowhere, confirmation in the form of a singed but intact droid. BB-8 chirps fluently, explains the situation as only a loyal pet could, and it’s almost a best-case scenario as far as Rey’s concerned. She’s gonna have to move fast, and she’s not totally sure she’s strong enough, but odds are good. She can do this.

“If I don’t come out in five minutes, you know where to go for help,” she tells the droid. She doubts it’ll take even half that, but stranger things have happened.

Scarf over her face to block out the worst of the fumes, she charges into the wreckage. Not as bad as it could be, she reminds herself as she squints through the smoke and latches onto her target. Poe is visibly alive - at least there’s that, she reassures herself - but bleeding in multiple places and doesn’t see her approaching until she’s jumped up to start moving him, and even then-

“What are you...”

“Save your breath. I’ve got you.”

(She remembers similar words on a cold night a couple weeks ago, when her nightmares got bad and she found out that he doesn’t sleep well either. She saw new light in him then, lost souls stuck together on a lesser moon, and she wants to see so much more of that. She wants...)

Somehow, she carries him out. Somehow - she will realize this later as a great display of her powers, though right now she’s too overwhelmed to notice anything but the body she’s clinging to - she gets him the hell out of there and helps him lie down a safe distance away. Even then, her fingers stay laced in his, not wanting to let go. (Never wanting to let go.)

“Why?” His voice is raspy, too much smoke still in his lungs, and she wishes she had water or something to offer him.

“Because I wasn’t sure who went down, but I figured at that distance there was a _chance_ , and I thought... if it was you... I don’t want to lose you. Not like this.”

He shakes his head, hisses as a new wave of pain rushes through his body. “If you were anyone else... what were you _thinking_?!”

Rey blushes, feels her skin turn an almost unnatural color. “That I don’t want to miss out on chances,” she murmurs, and then she leans down and presses her mouth to his.

Not what she expected, but what beauty ever has been? She shifts herself against him, tries to take the bitter smoke-taste and as much pain as she can. Far from romantic, she can’t help but think as his hand reaches up and anchors on the back of her head, but perfect all the same.

“Oh,” he breathes as they separate.

“Something wrong?”

“Wasn’t expecting that.”

“Bad?”

“No. Really, really not bad.” He shifts into a sitting position, maintaining the embrace as best they can. “Just... my kind of timing.”

She can’t help but think that he probably hit his head on something and that all of this, the physical ache-want blossoming in her body, is a _terrible_  idea. A better person, Rey is sure, would draw the line here and now. But she’s only human, and she kisses him again and clings as close as she can, and it feels bright and good and home-like and-

“This is a terrible idea,” Poe murmurs.

“Then stop me.”

“Didn’t say I didn’t want to,” he laughs. “Just pointing out that out of every time and place you could’ve picked...”

“I don’t see the problem. We’re alone, we’d hear anyone who approached...”

“And the fact that I want to doesn’t quite win over... all of this.” With his free hand, he motions to his various wounds - a couple cuts, nothing _terrible_  but at least one that’ll need attention, and who knows how many bruises under his clothes. “Later, Rey. As soon as I heal up. Can you wait two days?”

She laughs, kissing his cheek. “I was planning on waiting a lot longer, but... you almost died. So yeah, I can wait two days.”

“Good. I do want you, okay?”

“I know.” Or at least she does now. “I’m sorry if I-”

“Shhh, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. You probably saved my life, and... at least now I know for sure.”

“I wasn’t sure how else to say I like you.”

“Pretty sure this is how my parents met too,” he shrugs. “Or at least one of the stories. You’re fine.”

They stay there a while, nested in each other, until the rush dies down and her mind is brought back to more important things.

“C’mon. Let’s get you somewhere safe. Do you think you can walk?”

“I can try.”

Worth a shot.


End file.
